


Predatory Intentions

by rhodrymavelyne



Category: Tokyo Babylon, X -エックス- | X/1999
Genre: F/F, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-18 17:32:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4714475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhodrymavelyne/pseuds/rhodrymavelyne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinoto has a private meeting and a private commission with the Sakurazukamori, which she's hiding from her 'other self'. It takes place before Kamui, Sorata, Arashi, and Yuzuriha come to meet her in the Diet Building. In it, she reveals a few secrets and makes a prediction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Predatory Intentions

**Author's Note:**

> I was trying to figure out Hinoto, how her two personalities worked. It seemed the aggressive personality was there, from the very beginning, if it tried to kill Kamui, on his way to school. What if it had been active for much longer? It seemed to assume dominance in Volume 14 of 'X', but what if it had a more compromising, subversive relationship with Hinoto's other aspect, before that? Plus, I was intrigued by the idea of Hinoto's dark personality interacting with Seishirou, the power struggle between them. I don't own any of these characters. I just often write fan fiction about them, because I'm fascinated with them, which often leads me to try to figure them out. ;)

As always, the faint scent of sakura heralded his arrival. If only the Sakurazukamori was as predictible about other things as he was about his entrances. 

Hinoto had learned the hard way that Sakurazuka Seishirou was anything, but predictable. How he managed to elude the eye of a dreamseer was a mystery. It didn’t help that Hinoto suspected the other half of her heart was struggling to help him maintain the mystery, even though it was against her best interests.

“You wished to see me?” The sakurazukamori’s voice was low and courteous. As always, he was nothing, but pure politeness in her presence.

“Sakurazuka-san,” Hinoto said, with equal politeness. She could feel her lips bending into a smile, which she seldom revealed to visitors. “This is considered sacred space, protected by a long-standing barrier. It’s also where I dream.” One of her small hands lifted in the tiniest of gestures to encompass the entire basement. Her bedchamber. Her prison. The lair from which she spun her webs. “Do you think you could draw all of this and anyone in it into one of your illusions?”

Sakurazuka Seishirou tilted his head to regard the space, a predator surveying the nest of another predator. “Perhaps. It would depend on whom I was drawing into my illusion.” There was no arrogance, or false modesty in his words. Just a simple statement of the facts, as if it meant nothing to him, one way or another.

“Myself, my retainers, two Dragons of Heaven, and Kamui,” Hinoto said, doing her best to keep her voice as even as his. A lack of emotions did not come as readily to dreamseers as they did to sakurazukamori. If anything, dreamseers tended to be overwhelmed by the feelings and emotions of the subjects of their dreams. It left very little in the way of anything for one’s self. “Give us a taste of your true power, Sakurazukamori-san, even if it destroys us all.”

“Us?” A smile played at the corner of Sakurazuka Seishirou’s mouth. It was a charming smile. “It’s rare for one whom employs me to include herself among the group of targets.”

“It’s also rare for you to spare a target’s life, especially when that target was a witness to your activities,” Hinoto retorted. There was no keeping the tartness out of her voice. “You and are eccentric in our choices, Sakurazuka-san. Perhaps even hopeless romantics?”  
There was a pause, as the air seemed to tingle. One blind eye regarded Hinoto, as if it was seeing something it couldn’t possibly see. 

“I did wonder how Subaru-kun happened to wander into my grasp, alone and unprotected that night,” the sakurazukamori said. His smile didn’t falter, but his golden eye narrowed. “Considering how sheltered he was.”

“The twelfth Sumeragi was called to meet with me. Our meeting was of the utmost urgency and secrecy, forcing her to leave behind her charge.” What was the point in concealing this truth from this man, at the end of the world? “Young, vulnerable, yet powerful, how could Sumeragi Subaru-san not be drawn to the cherry tree?”

“Where I was ending the life of a potential dreamseer you sent me to kill,” Sakurazuka Seishirou said. His own smile was frozen, fixed upon his face. “However, you meant for me to kill Subaru-kun as well.” 

“How could I have known the young sakurazukamori would be so whimsical, so romantic?” It was this, which had always baffled Hinoto about the man standing before her. “Your 'bet' defied all expectation.”

“There are some things, which even your eyes miss, Hinoto-hime,” Sakurazuka Seishirou said. It was almost a taunt, yet delivered in in the same courteous manner he’d retained all along. 

“Without free will, I could predict everything. Without free will, there would be no hope,” Hinoto said, as she gazed at the man before her. Opaque, inscrutable, shielded by a red mist, or was it a barrier of pink petals? “I may have just given you an excellent motive to kill me, Sakurazuka-san.” She lowered her eyelids, closing them on the red mist. “That is, if you lied.”

“Lied?” There was some amusement in the word. “When have I lied to you, Hinoto-hime?”

“Not to me. To someone far more important to you.” Hinoto had just shown she was fallible. Now, it was time to show this assassin that there were things she knew, which he’d thought remained between himself and his prey. “If Sumeragi Subaru means more to you than a rock or a twig, this is your chance to avenge yourself upon his would be murderer.”

“Why would I do that?” Sakurazuka Seishirou asked. His smile eased up, becoming playful. “Whatever your intentions were, you introduced me to my Subaru-kun.” There was a deliberate emphasis on the word ‘my’. “In fact, you gift-wrapped and delivered him to me. Perhaps I should send you flowers?”

“I tried to kill him, though, through you.” It was hard to suppress a shudder. Part of Hinoto was horrified by what she’d done. Part of her truly hoped the sakurazukamori would kill her, in an attempt to avenge the closest thing he’d ever had to a beloved. Part of Hinoto was simply tired of everything. It was a constant struggle to keep herself happy, or at least in a state of contented oblivion. “You’ve killed more innocent women than myself for less, for his sake.”

“Yes, I have, haven’t I?” The assassin’s smile never faltered, but the menace in the air thickened. “However, you also gave him to me. Thank you for the gift.” The steady stare of his golden eye was like the gaze of a hawk, when spotting some other predatory bird, ready to swoop down upon his prey. “You do realize I have no intention of returning him to you. Don’t you?”

The scent of sakura filled the air, as he took one slow step closer to Hinoto’s dais. 

“I have no intention of taking him from you,” Hinoto managed to say in an even voice. If the Sumeragi was nothing more than a rock to the sakurazukamori, the sakurazukamori was still possessive of that rock. “I cannot say the same of Kamui.”

“Kamui?” Sakurazuka Seishirou stopped in his tracks. “What do you mean?”

“He is Kamui. The Sumeragi is a Dragon of Heaven. As for what else connects them, you might have more of an idea than me.” Obviously, Kamui and the Sumeragi had certain things in common. Both were beautiful, fragile boys with far too much power and responsibility thrust upon them. Hinoto didn’t say these things out loud. She didn’t need to. “Destiny and pain will eventually bring those two together, forming an unshakable bond between them.” 

Unless the two of them never meet. Hinoto didn’t have to say this out loud either. She was certain the sakurazukamori was already thinking it. 

“If you’re trying to persuade me to attack Kamui, there’s no need,” the sakurazukamori said, as pleasantly as ever. “Your request was eccentric enough to interest me, so how could I refuse? Especially from yourself,” he added, with a smile, which meant nothing. “Besides, you’ve made me quite curious about these guests you’ll be entertaining.” The gleam in his golden eye grew distant, yet focused, fixing itself upon someone other than her. “I look forward to playing with them. Especially Kamui.” There was something almost hungry in his voice, as he uttered the boy’s name.

He meant every word. Hinoto knew this, as well as she knew the sakurazukamori had plans of his own, which he wasn’t going to reveal to her. She’d deal with them, when the time came. For now, she knew he’d be here with his illusions at the appointed hour. He’d come for them all, as promised. One of Hinoto’s wishes would be granted, or her allies/enemies would prove stronger than anticipated. This should make Hinoto happy.

Some might think it strange to think of yourself as another person, a lover you tried desperately to please, but never managed to satisfy. It was a state that was not only normal, but tormented Hinoto. She tried so hard to compromise with herself. If Kamui and the Dragons of Heaven were strong enough, they’d escape from this trap. This would mean her other self’s allies were strong. It should please her. If not, the sakurazukamori would kill Hinoto. This would grant her other self’s heart’s desire. Hinoto was trying to be fair, just as she had been, when she sent the shikigami after Kamui. Yes, they were trying to kill him, but it was a fair test of his strength. The sakurazukamori’s attack was also a fair test of strength. If Kamui and the Dragons of Heaven were strong enough, they’d survive the battle. They might even emerge from it stronger. In the meantime, the assassination attempt would indulge her other self’s desire for death.  
It was enough to start pulling every carefully arranged hair from her head, which Hsien and Sohi worked so hard to arrange. She tried so hard to please her other self, but her other self never appreciated it. Hinoto was getting very tired of her own weak-willed, passive attempts at self destruction, just to make her other self happy. She wondered how much longer she’d put up with it, before she tried to take over completely.

Ah, well, that depended on her other self, didn’t it?


End file.
